2,143 injuries along with more than $4.8 million dollars in weather-related damage.

20 reported active shooter incidents.

3 million fires that resulted in 3,280 civilian deaths and $14.3 billion in property damage.

While these statistics are staggering, we can remain confident that with proper emergency preparation and communications planning, we can keep our communities safe, despite the threat of danger and disaster. Consider these facts:

Thousands of wireless emergency alerts (WEA) have been issued since Congress created the program, and countless lives have been saved, including those of 29 Connecticut children who were led to the safety of a shelter by a camp counselor who received a WEA alert about an upcoming tornado.

IPAWS is designed to help create and distribute local emergency notifications to your community through all the nation’s available alert and warning channels. IPAWS allows emergency communication managers to disseminate critical news and information through such government emergency notification systems as:

The Emergency alert system (EAS), which broadcasts to AM/FM radios and public televisions.

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) sent to capable wireless devices.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radio alerts

IPAWS allows emergency communication managers to create and distribute appropriate alerts for all types of community emergencies. Alerting authorities can utilize the following types of IPAWS alert messages:

Warning messages: Warning messages are issued for those events that alone pose a significant threat to public safety and/or property. Such messages should be used when the probability of occurrence and location is high, and the onset time is relatively short.

Emergency messages: Emergency messages are issued for those events that by themselves would not kill, injure, or damage property, but indirectly may cause other things to happen that result in a hazard.

To further ensure emergency communication managers can quickly and accurately create and distribute informative and actionable alerts, the following national standard event codes may be incorporated into messages sent via EAS, WEA, and the National Weather Service (NWS):

AVW: Avalanche Warning

CAE: Child Abduction Emergency

CDW: Civil Danger Warning

CEM: Civil Emergency Message

EQW: Earthquake Warning

EVI: Evacuation Immediate

FRW: Fire Warning

HMW: Hazardous Materials Warning

LAE: Local Area Emergency

LEW: Law Enforcement Warning

NUW: Nuclear Power Plant Warning

RHW: Radiological Hazard Warning

SPW: Shelter in Place Warning

VOW: Volcano Warning

For more information on IPAWS and how it can effectively help you reach citizens with critical information and instructions during a local emergency, download our CivicReady and IPAWS fact sheet.

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As the CivicPlus Director for Public Safety Solutions, Ryan’s focus is on understanding the communication challenges faced by local governments in times of disaster, and ensuring the CivicReady solution offers the most efficient, and effective capabilities to allow governments to keep citizens safe and informed.
Ryan leads market research initiatives relative to local government mass communications and provides local governments with needs assessments. She also oversees the consistency and quality of all CivicReady product implementations.
Ryan holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a major in Marketing from Kansas State University. She has over eight years of experience in marketing and consulting with a focus in mass notification technology.